Atiku urges Buhari to come clean on unemployment numbers

OrderPaperToday – The Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation has expressed shock at the inability of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to release its annual unemployment report allegedly due to poor funding.

The campaign body in a statement on Thursday said that the revelation by the Statistician General of the Federation is evidence that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is “in a state of panic because of the unprecedented unemployment numbers in Nigeria and is desperate to hide that information from the public.”

According to the statement, “If the Buhari administration can afford ₦1.1 billion to fumigate the office of the National Security Adviser, if they can afford ₦35 million every month to feed Ibrahim El Zakzaky, then they can afford to release funds for the NBS to perform its statutory duty of releasing the nation’s job report.

“President Buhari promised to create three million jobs per annum during the 2015 Presidential campaign season, but has ended up losing over three million jobs every year since he was sworn in on May 29, 2015.”

The organization added that from previous data released by the NBS, 11 million Nigerians have lost their jobs since the Buhari administration came to being with 7.9 million people losing their jobs in the 21 months period under review.

“It is safe to draw the conclusion that if the NBS had been funded and able to release the now due 2018 job reports, the total figure of jobs lost under the present administration may climb higher than the present 11 million jobs.

“Thus, we can understand why this failed administration is desperate to cover that information up; however, the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation insists that Nigerians deserve to know the truth no matter how unpalatable it may be,” the statement concluded.

Damilola is an award-winning Writer, Researcher, and Community/Sustainable Development Practitioner. His interests and experience span across media, academics, human capital development, and strategic planning.
An alumnus of the prestigious Lagos Business School, Damilola's writing work on violent extremism in Nigeria won a PeaceWriteNow prize, presented by the Embassy of Ireland in June, 2018.